


How do you...?

by Darksilversilhouette



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst and Feels, Bromance, Character study because the author can't help it, Childhood Friends, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Beta Read, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-14 07:34:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21012104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darksilversilhouette/pseuds/Darksilversilhouette
Summary: Everyone has to deal with communication problems and misunderstandings at one point. But what happens when those problems rear their heads at the wrongest time possible?This is a story where Angeal seems hellbent on ruining his own life, and for once, Genesis is simply too busy with his own agendas to notice.





	1. Chapter One

3:0-

3:10 AM

Angeal wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been since he’d decided to stare at the red LED lights of the digital clock on the nightstand.

Still, Genesis wasn’t home.

Tossing the blanket aside, he turned to lie on his back and stared at the white-washed ceiling instead. If his eyes had the ability to bore holes into objects just by looking at them, the raven-haired First was certain there would’ve been twin boreholes in the roof of the Shinra building, ending at Genesis Rhapsodos’ living quarters; simply from how long he’d been staring at the upper interior surface of their bedroom.

Angeal wasn’t sure if he could call it ‘theirs’ anymore.

Actually, this wasn’t new. It had been going on for weeks.

Specifically, it had started six days after he’d come back from the front. He’d turned in early for the night, believing that the older man was going for another allnighter possibly due to the sheer amount of paperwork the two of them had stacked for the past several days. The reason for such build-up was that Genesis seemed hellbent on compensating for the three months they’d been apart by dragging him out of his office at any given moment under the excuse of requiring his presence for various activities; the most prominent of the two being sparring and sex.

It had just happened, in terms of the latter. Ideally, Angeal would have preferred to have sat down and talked about _ ‘what in Gaia’s name’ _ they had been doing, he’d known that Genesis would never give him a straight answer. That, and it was quite clear that his best friend wasn’t certain what he was looking for. The redhead had always been impulsive, always up for trying something new-which was a good thing...until it wasn’t. The older First was prone to obsessing over things for a while-akin to a kid finding a shiny new toy-turning them over and over, discovering new facets and picking them apart ‘til there was simply nothing left unknown about them, and they were therefore cast aside. The sable-haired Commander had feared at the time that it’d happen to them one day, because this new addition to their friendship made their balance something tenuous. He was never sure what was too much and what was too little about everything that made up their rapport.

Sex just brought the definition of _ ‘complicated’ _ to a whole ‘nother level. And that was strictly speaking in the field of interpersonal relationships. The laws on fraternization among SOLDIER were like a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head, and when he’d told Genesis that, the older man had just laughed and told him that he needed to live a little.

And somehow he’d decided to take his best friend’s advice to heart, and lived a little. 

It might have been his best decision, yet…or his worst.

Angeal tried not to overthink it, and continued as they had been. They still went out together when their schedules allowed both of them to be present at base at the same time, trained together when the raven-haired Commander wasn’t busy mentoring; they sparred when Genesis felt like the younger man needed _ ‘to be put into place’ _, which Angeal didn’t know how to interpret considering how frequently it led to them participating in horizontal tango afterwards.

He wasn’t complaining; after all, he was no saint, and his best friend’s attractiveness and his consummate methods didn’t really help his already wanting willpower. But that hadn’t been all it had been about. Nowhere near it.

For him, it ran much deeper than that. He’d always had feelings for his best friend, even before they had come to Midgar.

_ Those few and far in between occasions the Rhapsodos had ‘welcomed’ him into their Mansion-albeit begrudgingly due to their son befriending someone of ‘lower stature’-he’d become even more aware of how the emotions he harbored toward the redhead had been more than something shared between friends. Those were some very fond memories… The peacefulness of dozing off on the couch in Genesis’ room, hidden behind the too-thin veil of a blanket while listening to the strings buzz as his childhood playmate played his guitar; stealing surreptitious glances and watching downright mesmerized as the metal vibrated underneath those pale elegant fingers…  
_

Angeal still did that sometimes, on those very rare days that he was lucky enough to have an off day with Genesis, and luckier still for the redhead to be a good enough mood to want to fill the atmosphere of their living quarters with his music.

_How many times had he tried to think of Genesis as his brother even though it had been dumb…? How many times had he wanted to tell him that he loved him, only to find out how hard it was to say it out loud? How many times had he found his verbosity lacking in terms of expressing his feelings, and decided not to say anything at all? Maybe it wasn't so much his fault as it was the fault of words in general…due to them being the futile devices that they were.  
_

The raven-haired Commander still had feelings for the older man even when he’d decided to throw all his inhibitions to the wind; when those who expressed admiration for him and were _ ‘attractive’ _ enough turned to playthings, and he’d-as Genesis had so _ colorfully _ put during one of their fights-decided to _ ‘whore himself out’; _ be it promiscuity or substance abuse. Thankfully, it seemed to have been a phase the redhead had grown out of…

Or maybe not.

Those tell-tale signs were back again, been back since that night he’d woken up at an ungodly hour to an empty bed; had lain awake waiting for the older man to come back, only to find him reeking of alcohol upon return...and Genesis looked _ tired _.

Now, the aforementioned man’s _ ‘I’m done with all this fucking paperwork’ _ kind of tired was very different from his _ ‘I just got laid and it felt _ ** _so_ ** _ good’ _kind of tired. And Angeal had known this, he’d known this and he’d cursed himself for not sitting down to think about this, never sitting down to think about it; cursed both of them for never talking about it, never defining what they really were, where the boundaries lay… The term ‘friends with benefits’ had come to his mind, and while his derision and self-hate had been virulently forefront, the younger First hadn’t been able to help but wonder if perhaps that’s what they now were. Hadn’t been able to work up the courage to bring the subject up, because he’d already known what the redhead would say.

_ Why bring it up now, after so long? That surely there was no one who knew him and his vices better than Angeal, so he’d known what he was walking into when he’d acquiesced...when he’d come along on this journey until the here and now.  
_

So maybe it was that derision, that self-hate and these thoughts...maybe it was the incompatibility of their schedules, or perhaps the perpetuation of Genesis’ absence that made the distance between them yawn. Maybe it was the reason that they were merely sharing their living quarters, sharing the same bed but not really anything beyond that.

They’d barely gotten the chance to talk, save for the mornings his best friend had to wake up as early as he did or Angeal didn’t have to work until later in the day-long enough to be able to stay around at their apartment and see Genesis’ waking hours. Exchanging half-intelligible words with a barely lucid redhead, especially before said redhead could break his fast by a mug of coffee, was hardly conversing in the first place. The older First also hated small talk, and while the raven-haired Commander appreciated companionable silences, it simply had been going on for too long.

Angeal felt like they’d been drifting apart.

It was a terrible feeling, one that didn’t seem to have any intentions of not gnawing at him. One that didn’t want to leave him alone.

Also, this wasn’t a matter he could bring up with Sephiroth; the fact that the said silver-haired man was busy with the war effort at the front, on the other side of the globe, for who-knows-how-long didn’t really help. Angeal didn’t think it was prudent to even discuss such matters with the youngest of their trio, because it wasn’t like he talked to his friends and colleagues about his venereal experiences and troubles on a daily basis; whether it was to ask for advice or to make small talk as some people were wont to do.

That only left Zack-…

Recoiling and shuddering at the thought, Angeal promptly acknowledged and firmly decided that it was out of the question. Before he could wade into the stream of his musings again, the sound of the lock mechanism disengaging had him scrambling to pretend to be asleep. He didn’t really think about why he did it, just that he _ knew _ he hadn’t worked up the courage to confront Genesis about it; and his being a pacifist really didn’t help matters.

_ Could anyone really blame him?  
_

Maybe they should, because who threw out so many years of friendship for physical gratification? Angeal didn’t want to lose Genesis, and maybe it was a cowardly thing to do, maybe he was overthinking it, but for now...he couldn’t do anything but lie in wait. Evened his breathing, and just listened.

The muted thud of boots and the soft, barely there creak of leather. The almost inaudible rasp of it over-_ possibly _ -the turtleneck Genesis was wearing earlier today. The exhausted shuffle of socked-feet before the redhead would get rid of the garments one by one, leaving a trail of rumpled clothing in his wake. Nearer, and thankfully, Angeal had oiled the hinges for the bedroom door not to creak and _ ‘wake him up’ _ . The bed dipped on the other side, and he rolled half-way to his left like he usually did when he was asleep; the sigh that escaped his lips not loud enough to mask hearing the older man do the same.

Something twisted sharply within his chest; really it felt like getting stabbed in the gut, and for an infinitesimal moment, it was suddenly too hard to keep up his act. As it was, he gave into cracking an eye half-way open to see Genesis hunched over on the other side of the bed; close enough to reach...but yet so distant, so far away. A pale hand reached for the sheets, and before he could say or do anything, the older man was lying down; barely away from the edge of the bed and with his back to him.

_ What was wrong?  
_

_ What was going on?  
_

_ How had they drifted apart so much without Angeal noticing?  
_

_ Was it those months away at the front that had finally done it? _

So many questions, and the raven-haired Commander could do nothing but hold his peace. Now wasn’t the time for it… It had all the right ingredients for escalating into a fight, because tired Genesis was irritable Genesis; and judging by its looks, it had been a long day.

Angeal wanted to make it better, but he didn’t know if he had the strength to do so; mentally, emotionally. He also didn’t know if it’d be welcome…or if he could, given the chance. Maybe at this point, all was lost anyway… 

Something burned in his eyes, but the raven-haired man paid it no heed; didn’t let the sudden blurring of his vision stop him from taking in the sight before him.

Genesis lying on his side, curled in on himself somewhat as one would in a fetal position. Angeal wanted to reach over and run his fingers over the line of his spine; vertebra after vertebra. Wanted to fan out his fingers and grasp at the musculature rippling just underneath pearlescent skin; feel the heat radiating from the strong, lithe physicality of his best friend…

So, he did just that and told himself that the redhead flinched because he’d probably just fallen asleep. Nudged the jut of a shoulder, before folding his fingers around it; watched Genesis acquiesce to it and roll on his back, an unintelligible mumble falling from sanguine lips but the older man still had his eyes closed.

There was simply no way for him to be able to draw any conclusions as to where the auburn-haired First had been. It didn’t surprise him, because as much as his best friend was prone to libertinism, he wasn’t indiscreet. If he didn’t want anyone to latch on to anything in particular, he knew how to cover his tracks and he knew it damn too well.

Staring in the darkness at the flutter of crimson lashes against high cheekbones, Angeal resumed his exploration...but not to satiate his need for it, but because he wanted to _ give… To show _ that not all of it was lost, that he was willing to do whatever it took to make it work. He knew too well the plains and the valleys of the physicality his hand was rediscovering, had witnessed firsthand the power that was hidden right beneath the surface…and then, the seemingly never-ending cache of emotions, shot through by the slightest of insecurities.

Without yards of red leather and pale masks with intense azure eyes and haughty sanguine lips, this was the Genesis he knew. All that proud demeanor and callousness had fallen away… His best friend looked innocent but only in his sleep, in a way that maybe he could only appreciate because he’d grown up with him. But was his idea of the older man cohesive with who he really was...now, not back when they were still in Banora? What if Angeal had effectively fallen behind, too enmired in all that made him who he was to realize what was going on around him? After all, the redhead always nagged at him for being too down-to-earth; so down-to-earth in fact, that he _ ‘was rooted in his beliefs and he couldn’t see anything beyond a certain point.’ _

He wasn’t getting anywhere with these thoughts...running in circles, way over his own head for the time of the day. There was a bitter, unhinged tinge to his ruminations, one that while he couldn’t ignore, he couldn’t afford either; not now, at least. Be it deluding himself, or trying to see the glass half full, Angeal decided to focus on the steady rise and fall of the chest underneath his palm instead; the faint impression of a heart beating…tried to draw upon that peacefulness he felt before, but its threads were fast running through his grasp; golden specks of sand slipping through his fingers.

The room felt like it was closing in on him, too tight...and he couldn’t breathe-!

“_ Gen? _ ” Somewhat urgent, but no more than a whisper. It wasn’t enough to rouse the redhead-which was no surprise-but when his hand wandered further down that pale torso, his bed partner finally stirred; half-asleep and half-awake. There was an unintelligible mumble again, before Genesis sighed his name. “ _ ‘Geal? _ ” There was another lull. Auburn brows furrowed, but the older First still had his eyes closed. “ _ What is it? ‘M tired. _” Somewhat irritated, which he’d expected...because it was an ungodly hour in the morning, but he couldn’t help it; couldn’t make the lump pressing down on his throat go away.

“You know that I love you, right?” Nothing but a tremulous whisper passed his lips. The stretch of chronology yawned between them, and he wondered maybe Genesis hadn’t heard him at all. Maybe it was for the best, because why else had he chosen now to come clean? So, when the redhead _ ‘hmm’ed _ before muttering _ ‘I know…’ _ , Angeal didn’t know how to feel. There was a chance that once his best friend was up in the morning, he’d have no memory of it; and if he did remember, then the sable-haired First could only hope that it’d be something, if not enough… 

Lying back down on his side, with his palm settled still against his best friend’s heart, Angeal gazed at the aeonian profile before him. Until darkness gave way to light, and only then was when slumber found him.

But not for long.

There was an incessant ringing. It was far away, obnoxious as hell, and didn’t seem intent on letting up. He would’ve ignored it until it stopped, but having cracked an eye open to blearily make out what the digital clock was telling him was enough to jar him awake and get him up on his feet. Nearly hitting the wall instead of going through the doorway, and stubbing his toe against the couch, Angeal finally made it to the offending object that was the reason behind him stacking critical hits since he’d woken up.

It was Genesis’ phone.

Picking it up from the countertop, flipping it open and bringing the receiver to his ear, the line went dead before he could even say _ ‘Hello’ _. At the exact same time, however, their landline started going off. Narrowing his eyes, the Commander answered before it could go dead on him again.

“Rhapsodos’ residence, it’s-”

_ “‘Geal, thank goddess you’re there.” _ There was a pause, and if he strained his hearing, he could hear the faint tapping of something against a hard surface. _ “Didn’t you have a meeting today?” _

“I did, I mean, I do...thank you for the wake-up call.”

_ “It’s okay, you seemed pretty dead to the world in the morning.” _ There were a few infinitesimal moments of quiet before Genesis continued. _ “I think I forgot my phone at home-” _

“Yeah, it’s right here. Do you need me to bring it to your office on my way?”

_ “No, that’s okay. I just need some numbers. They should be in my recent calls since the start of last week.” _

“Alright, gimme a sec.” Finding what the redhead had been looking for didn’t take long at all, and soon he was relaying them and hearing the scratch of a pen on the other end. Now, this would’ve been an ordinary task, one that could’ve been over pretty soon, but Angeal couldn’t help but notice a bit of a pattern there. Some sort of coincidence between whatever had been going on with their lives and the frequency and the dates of these numbers.

How they seemed to have started about that very same day Genesis had started acting all weird again.

After listening to the aforementioned man thank him on the other side of the line and offering a perfunctory ‘You’re welcome’ and exchanging their goodbyes, Angeal found his feet taking him toward the couch of their own accord. His whole world seemed to zero in on the electronic settled in the center of his palm and those unknown numbers glaring at him from the screen.

Before he could even realize it, he was scrolling through Genesis’ messages…Threads with those same numbers, exchanging time, dates, addresses… Of the older man complimenting _ ‘how great they were’ _ and throwing endearments here and there. Still, he didn’t want to see the glass half empty; still, he wanted to believe that this was nothing but an awful misunderstanding, a grave error on his part.

Until he came upon Zack’s thread.

_ To: Zack F.  
Message: I’m coming over after I’m done with work. Around 6, give or take. Make sure your roommates are gone before then. _

_ From: Zack F.  
Message: How am I supposed to ask 5 people to get out of the room? I still don’t get why we can’t do this at your place. _

_To: Zack F. _  
_ Message: And how many times do I have to tell you that I live with your mentor? Don’t you care about him?_

_To: Zack F. _  
_ Message: Just do it. I don’t want the whole base to know what Genesis Rhapsodos is up to in his spare time._

His world came crashing down around his ears.

It took a moment for him to remember how to breathe again, and when he did, it seemed like he couldn’t get enough air in his lungs. There were a myriad of voices speaking over each other in his head, and Angeal didn’t want to hear what they were saying but had no choice…didn’t know how to make them shut up and let him think, rationally.

He wanted to think that Zack wouldn’t do this to him, but his protege didn’t know about him and Genesis. And it wasn’t like his mentor status or him outranking the younger man allowed him to decide whom he had a relationship with. A part of him that was enmired in dogma reminded him that this was a relationship that had the potential to disrupt the line of command, but that was neither here nor there. He wasn’t going to report his best friend and the person who amounted to his legacy because they were having sex; and because their having sex was the reason he wasn’t getting laid.

Flipping the phone shut, and getting to his feet, Angeal started pacing, much akin to the thought processes that were zooming in and out of his head, before coming to an abrupt halt.

_ What had he done? _

Staring at the phone on the coffee table with wide sapphire eyes, the sable-haired First couldn’t believe that he’d just looked through his best friend’s phone. Finding out that love was just a game to Genesis aside, Angeal couldn’t even fathom how he’d become so desperate to take advantage of the aged trust they shared between them. How he’d managed to lose sight of himself, his standards when faced with what he’d been… _ An opportunity?  
_

_ Hmph.  
_

The sneer that contorted his visage was wrought from the disgust he felt toward himself.

_ No. _

He couldn’t do this song and dance anymore. He couldn’t keep hating himself, and he knew he didn’t have the power to hate Genesis. The only solution to this situation was that he remove himself. Nodding to nothing and no one in particular, Angeal decided that it was final. There was no way he was sticking around to find out if his best friend was lying or not; if his own heart was simply breaking over nothing…

He was going to leave and try to heal. Try and think this through, to separate their friendship from whatever it had become. To separate his real self from who he had become.

It didn’t take long at all for him to step through the door. After all, the only reason that had made this place his home was the redhead individual whom he still loved...still like all those years ago. He didn’t have that many a possession to take with him to the front. It wasn’t the best place to find solace, to heal...but he was a man of action, a man of war.

Leaving a note to speak for him, in exchange for all the words he’d never gotten to say, that he might never get to say, Angeal Hewley looked over his shoulder one last time before stepping over the threshold.

_ Tell me how do you…? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The main idea to write this story came from listening to How Do You Sleep by Sam Smith. I'm sure you found the evidence of the author being utterly shameless in their inspirations in the story. I'm sorry for all the grammatical errors and typos that slipped through. This might also be somewhat out of character but I blame my Angeal muse for deciding not to cooperate.


	2. Chapter Two

“Wait here. I’m gonna head inside, make sure Angeal’s not home.”  


Genesis didn’t really need to stand in the middle of their living room to know that the younger man wasn’t there. There was a feel to the apartment-or anywhere really-when Angeal was present. It was the same with Sephiroth, only different, sui generis in a way that a person’s scent could be unique to them. It probably had many names, aura, signature, etc. but the redhead was reluctant to label it.  _ Too confining _ . More or less like how defining anything was, trying to pour their definition into the container of locutions… It was a foolhardy task, but not something that could always be avoided.  


Regardless, Angeal wasn’t home.  


That much was certain from letting his azure eyes survey the room as he made his way toward the bedroom. Not in the kitchen, not hiding in the closet-the auburn-haired Commander thought with a wry smile-and not in the bathroom either. Glancing at the clock perched atop the pearl-colored wall next to the kitchen, Genesis couldn’t help but smirk because they had ample time before his best friend could get back.  


“Come on in.”  


Raising an eyebrow at the empty entryway, the redhead narrowed his eyes when Zack-or rather a head of spikey sable locks-finally peeked from behind the door frame.

This was going to be excruciatingly hard. Because Genesis Rhapsodos was not a patient man, and he was already running out of it… Goddess help them- _ or help him, _ he thought-because he didn’t want to be in a foul mood when Angeal came back home.  


“Come on people, on your feet!” Switching to Commander mode, the older man barked. “It’s all clear. Get moving.” Finally, the entourage that had followed him around the Shinra building started filing in through the door. “Go, go, go!” Gesturing to make them hurry up somewhat, Genesis shot a displeased look at Zack. “By goddess if you drop that box, Zack Fair, I’ll make your life miserable.” When that had an effect next to none, the redhead added. “To give you an idea, you could end up on dish duty next time we hit the front.”

Seeing the color drain from the younger man’s visage was a very  _ very  _ pleasing sight. But it couldn’t rival the look on Angeal’s face when he came back home today. Shooting a  _ ‘Scramble!’ _ over his shoulder at the dark-haired Third, the azure-eyed Commander started making his rounds to ascertain that everything was going according to plan. 

His first stop was the wooden sword stand which was sitting next to the standard one Angeal always deposited Buster Sword on. Letting his eyes roam over the polished woodwork, Genesis couldn’t stop the strange feeling that rose within him. It made sense now why his best friend always enjoyed hands-on activities; handcrafting, tinkering, repairing, anything that required ‘hand labor’. The older man didn’t know why he was surprised. They were, after all, comparable with what he did with his own hands; playing music.

What he hadn’t expected however, was for it to be so satisfying. The hours he’d spent learning how to carve the wood, the repetitive  _ thump  _ of the mallet against the chisel, the continuous  _ scratch scratch _ of the knives, the gouges… It had been hard at first, the slow process of learning how to do it. Before that, finding an empty window in his already hectic schedule, finding someone among the wide range of his  _ acquaintances  _ and  _ former acquaintances  _ who knew how to do this sort of thing; and before that, finding a woodshop in Midgar was like finding a needle in a haystack. But in the end, it had all been worth it. It wasn’t an ornate thing, not at all. He could’ve gotten much  _ ‘fancier’ _ -looking results if he’d had it custom-ordered but Genesis knew that this would be much more meaningful for Angeal. And that was all that mattered.

Letting the palm of his hand graze the top where the hilt would lean against, the auburn-haired First continued with his languid trek toward the bedroom. He had invited some of his best friend’s mentees, but that was about it. They really didn’t need to make a fuss out of it, especially knowing the sable-haired First, he preferred things with as little fanfare as possible…  _ Oh, well. _ It was Angeal’s birthday after all.

The scenery unfolding in front of him in the living room was so amusing that Genesis couldn’t help but pause in his tracks. The aforementioned mentees were currently busy blowing up balloons and hanging tinsels up. Chuckling to himself while fishing out his phone, the Commander acknowledged that he also couldn’t resist the urge of snapping a photo and sending it to their absent silver-haired friend. After all, this was something that not only never got old, but also had to go down in the history of SOLDIER. He might as well show to Angeal afterwards, so the younger man could feel  _ very proud _ of his proteges. With his task accomplished and his message very well on his way to its intended recipient, Genesis finally sauntered into the bedroom where a lot of noise was coming from.  


The source of the din was the mirrors he’d ordered to be installed against the ceiling. Witnessing the newest-touch-to-the-room in the making, the redhead decided this, too, would be something that he looked forward to seeing Angeal’s reaction to. Surely, the younger First would cringe in horror, as he had all those years ago; from back when he’d declared that once they were given their own private residences, that’d be the first thing he’d do. It had been long overdue, but there was no one to blame but President Shinra for waging this stupid war with Wutai.  


Regardless, the memory was something that kept him entertained while he returned to the kitchen to unbox the package that held the cake. It was surprising that Fair wasn’t hovering around the confectionery and making a mess out of the frosting. Seeing the smaller, edible version of Buster Sword intact, the cerulean-eyed Commander was about to start ordering out the dinner when Zack called after him.

“Gen-Commander Rhapsodos, sir!”

Raising an eyebrow at the formal statement, he was about to say  _ ‘At ease’ _ but of course the puppy beat him to it.

“I found this on the TV stand, it’s addressed to you.” His best friend’s protege seemed awfully curious, somewhat concerned, and at the same time too serious for what was his wont. The reason for such strange demeanor quickly made itself known, however. “It’s Angeal’s handwriting.”  


Holding the pristine envelope in his hand, Genesis could very much see that it was his best friend’s handwriting indeed. Turning it around to take the note that was inside, the auburn-haired First pursed his lips and fixed the blue-eyed soldier in front of him with an expectant gaze. Much to his chagrin, it seemed that he was surrounded by a flock of dense people because Zack Fair was still standing there, waiting for the mysterious letter and its content to be revealed. Tilting his head, the older man raised both eyebrows this time. “Well?” When realization didn’t dawn on the visage of the individual before him, Genesis very nearly gave into exasperation. “I’d like to read it in private, if you’d Please. Leave. Post Haste.”  


Maybe it was the irritation coloring his tone, or the fact that he was starting to crumple what-seemed-to-be a sacred epistle in Fair’s opinion...but it didn’t matter, since it apparently gave Zack enough of a jolt to draw him out of whatever stupor that had fallen over him. The aforementioned Third then about-faced and fell back whence he came. His disappearance didn’t take long, however. Because as soon as the words  _ ‘Oh Angeal, You didn’t!’ _ fell from Genesis’ lips, the sable-haired First’s protege was back like he hadn’t left. The younger man wasn’t given a chance to speak, because the redhead-having already skimmed the letter-switched immediately to Commander mode and started barking orders. Again.

“Zack, take the Cake. Kunsel and the rest of you, take some balloons and streamer cannons.” Hurrying toward the door, he threw over his shoulder at the scrambling crowd. “We have a birthday to rescue. Meet me at the rooftop ASAP.”

Not waiting around to see whether his entourage followed his orders, the azure-eyed Commander raced to the elevators. Thankfully, being so high up the steel tower of Shinra Company, the lifts needed specific clearances to travel to certain levels; thus, being almost empty most of the time, the aforementioned contraption arrived in the blink of an eye.

He went over the letter one more time, as quickly as he was able to before the ding of the elevator signalled his arrival. If he wanted to focus on it too hard, Genesis was quite sure that their surprise birthday would take a wholly different turn and one that wasn’t savory at all. Jogging toward the helipad, the Commander also acknowledged that the assumptions Angeal had addressed in his letter were due to their lack of communication. 

Cursing under his breath, because it was always that way. Miscommunication. The older man threw the door to the roof open, saw the chopper there, already filled to the brim with troops and Angeal was right there, about to get on-

“-Angeal, wait!”  


Genesis was eternally grateful for enhanced senses when he saw the raven-haired First pause. Signalling to the pilot to shutdown the engine-not once but three times in rapid succession-the redhead made his way toward his best friend, trying his damnedest to keep his expression neutral. It was godawfully hard, especially when he took in the dejected yet surprised look on the younger man’s visage. Waving the letter to clear things up a bit as he closed the last several feet between them, the smile that he’d been keeping at bay broke over his lips when Angeal’s astonishment mounted.

“How-Didn’t you have a training-”

“-Angeal, you lovable fool...” Stepping inside the younger man’s personal space, Genesis Rhapsodos had the satisfaction of watching his best friend feebly flail around somewhat to keep him at arm’s length. He knew it was because of the soldiers waiting in the chopper who were watching this with way too much enthusiasm, but the redhead couldn’t really blame them. After all, who passed up on witnessing details in the life of their stoic and very private Commander? Regardless, that wasn’t happening and giving them a show wasn’t what the older First had in mind… So when he kissed the corner of Angeal’s mouth, it was not with any romantic connotations but to really try to convey his feelings.  


“Happy birthday.” was a whisper before he drew back, just in time to see realization dawn on aquiline features.  


His childhood playmate was speechless, and the streamer cannon that went off in the background didn’t really help matters. Chuckling as he turned around, Genesis saw their birthday crew standing awkwardly by the door. “Perfect timing.” This he uttered over his shoulder as he faced Angeal once more. “Zack, get over here.” The puppy’s mentor still hadn’t found his articulation prowess. “Before you say anything, I was making preparations for your birthday since before you’ve been back-...”

“-Yeah, you should see that wooden sword stand he’s carved for you! It’s pretty sick!” The Third butted in, before shoving the box of cake toward his coach. While the older Commander had been irritated at first, the turn of events seemed even more amusing for him to switch back to the brief heart to heart he’d been aiming for. Watching as his dumbfounded best friend caught the package, Genesis concluded that they had indeed accomplished the ‘surprise’ part of their plan…as for the birthday, however…  


“Well, I don’t think we should keep you here any longer, you know. After all, you have a deployment to attend to.” The older man smirked. “A front to uphold.” Gesturing at the chopper and the awaiting troops, he added. “There’s enough cake for everyone on board, but I believe you should all prepare yourselves to be slaughtered when you land in Wutai or get rid of the evidence, if you catch my meaning.”

About-facing to head back inside, the auburn-haired Commander paused halfway; contemplating whether he should drive the point home harder or not, before deciding that it couldn’t do any harm, could it? “I’ll make sure to take you photos of the mirror I installed in the bedroom.” Winking at his miserable-looking best friend, Genesis sauntered toward the huddle of Thirds that were gathered near the entrance, unable to keep the smile away from his lips.

Because both Angeal and he were aware that the younger Commander’s crestfallenness had nothing to do with what it had started off as, or the circumstances regarding his surprise birthday.  


No, it had more to do with the fact that Angeal Hewley couldn’t regret going to the front more than he did in that very moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, you all enjoyed reading this, and I apologize for any errors, grammatical or otherwise on my part.


End file.
